Euphoria Just Made HBO Max History With Its Season 2 Premiere
It's no secret that the entertainment landscape has more than its fair share of teen dramas, with few of them ever successfully able to break away from the pack. HBO's "Euphoria" from creator Sam Levinson is one such rarity, which debuted in June of 2019 and immediately captivated small screen viewers. The series follows a group of high school students as they reach the point in their lives where fitting in becomes exceedingly difficult. It explores themes like drug abuse, sexuality, identity, and more, amounting to a production that can be both difficult to watch yet impossible to look away from.
In the years since the first season of "Euphoria" hit the airwaves, critics and casual audiences alike have showered it with praise. The performances put out by the likes of Zendaya and Hunter Schafer, among others, received plenty of positive press, as did the show's raw, authentic nature and penchant for pushing the content envelope. There's nothing like it, to put it mildly, hence why it has also become an award magnet, with three Primetime Emmys and a myriad of other honors to its name. With all of that in mind, one has to ask: where in the world is Season 2?
Worry no longer, "Euphoria" fans, as Season 2 premiered on January 9, 2022, and has made HBO Max history in the process.
The arrival of Euphoria Season 2 brought in some massive viewership numbers
The HBO Max streaming service launched in May of 2020, and ever since, it has hosted some pretty remarkable projects. As theaters around the globe slowly reopened, it served as an alternate avenue for fans to watch cinematic projects like director James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" and the "Sopranos" prequel, "The Many Saints of Newark," and it has given TV viewers some goodies too. For instance, it brought the "Sex and the City" sequel series, "And Just Like That..." into homes everywhere at the end of 2021, setting all kinds of records in the process. Unsurprisingly, the premiere of "Euphoria" Season 2 pulled off a similar performance.
According to Deadline, the inaugural Season 2 episode drew 2.4 million viewers across every platform on January 9. This turned out to be the strongest digital premiere performance of any HBO episode on the streamer since it arrived almost a full two years ago. Additionally, in terms of digital views, the "Euphoria" Season 2 premiere scored more than nine times higher than its Season 1 counterpart, and it was the top-ranked asset on HBO Max that Sunday. As a result, reports came in of HBO Max crashing due to high traffic as soon as the episode dropped.
Though it took some time, "Euphoria" fans seem to have come out in droves to support the beginning of Season 2. It will run for eight total episodes, so they certainly have a lot more to look forward to in the coming weeks.
While there are plenty of binge-worthy series to watch on the streaming service, you can also find some of the best movies on HBO Max, too.